Vucic concedes defeat as student movement wins Serbian election

Aleksandar Vucic conceded defeat on Sunday as Serbia's student-led movement claimed victory in a snap parliamentary election that drew the highest turnout since the break-up of Yugoslavia in 1992, with nearly 70% of voters casting ballots.

Vucic said his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) won approximately 104 seats against 135 to 140 for the student candidate list, based on preliminary results. A representative sample by CESID-IPSPS pollsters put the student list at 138 deputies in the 250-seat parliament, with remaining seats shared by ethnic minority parties.

The snap election followed protests by students against perceived corruption and authoritarianism, triggered by the deaths of 16 people when a train station canopy collapsed in Novi Sad in November 2023.

Celebrations broke out in Belgrade after Vucic's announcement, with cars honking and crowds shouting "victory" and "he's done" in the streets. Radomir Sajcic, a professor at Belgrade University speaking on behalf of the students, said: "Tonight we celebrate victory, tomorrow we build the future."

Police in anti-riot gear had cordoned off areas around the election commission headquarters in central Belgrade during the day, and local media reported several violent incidents across the country.

Vucic's SNS party had held power for 14 years. The leaderless youth movement, which had repeatedly rattled his grip on power, proved an opponent his fractured traditional opposition had never managed to be.